Ok...first, I want to say that I had called Trinity Racing and talked to Harry about having the cylinder head on my 2002 Cannondale Speed modified by his company. I had heard a good review from a couple forum members, but mostly went off of reputation of what I thought was a customer service orientated business. I was told to expect a week turn around time, 2 weeks tops; which I accepted....this was the beginning of what has turned into a nightmare for me.

To cut to the chase, after the 4th week and hearing nothing from Trinity; I called to inquire about the status of my cyl head. The guy I talked to bounced me around to someone who said he didn't know anything about me having a cyl head there. I assured him that I was told 4 weeks earlier that it made it there by another employee and he put me on hold. I was cut off and called back...uggghhh. Yes, the head was there but they had been very busy and short handed and mine would be done in a couple days and ready to ship....I said ok.

Well, 4 days later I call back and of course the one guy in all the world that does the porting and polishing has been sick...so my cyl head won't be done and am given another date of the following Monday. ARRRRRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!!!! That day comes and goes and 2 days later I call back...talk to Harry who does apologize, gives me the story about this employee that has been sick and assures me it will get done.

Fast forward to my head getting to me now. It supposedly had the port/polish, valves checked and adjusted and some cam timing mod done. It came to me ready to bolt on, with an invoice. I bolted it on to proper specs, I had painstakingly seen this rebuild through from the frame up and was in no hurry to rush any of the assembly; followed all timing procedures, etc. The moment of truth for the engine to fire off came and sure enough as soon as the fuel system primed, it came to life. Sounded good, HMF exhaust growling; also noticed that the motor revved more freely and attributed that to the head mods.

After 2 hours of time on the quad, I was shifting from 3rd gear to 4th and all of a sudden the motor died. I pulled in the clutch and saw white smoke, knew it was dead. I loaded it up, and started taking it apart the next afternoon...sure wasn't looking forward to it after 5 months of rebuilding it...but oh well.

As soon as I pulled off the headpipe and saw a valve fall out, I knew it was much worse than I imagined; this was going to be interesting. I had a drag racing friend and a friend that is a GM line mechanic there, they were curious what could have happened after such a short time of use. As soon as we pulled the cam cover off, I noticed that the keepers had failed and let the valves drop...not a good thing. There was one set on the intake side still in place, but both exhaust valves had keepers failed and the other intake had one failed and the other in place.

When I called Harry to talk to him, his first words were; "what?"....."what were ya doing, revving the **** out of that thing?" Let's just say that he was also not willing to stay on the phone for anything more than telling me to ship the parts to him and "he would see if he could blame someone". That is not acceptable as a response to a customer in my view. Especially since I am looking at about 1500.00 in repairs, not including the 400.00 I paid to Trinity for the job. On a side note, I had corrosion on the cam cover behind the water pump impeller; don't ya think that anyone with a shred of professionalism that was modding a race quad would have called to point out that needed attention? This is just too bad, I am out a ton of money and have no acceptable resolution in sight but to accept it and move on.

I just wanted to pass this on to anyone that is thinking of having work done by Trinity....Beware! I have pics I can email to anyone interested..............thanks for listening to my rant..........JIM

 

Jim, I certainly feel for you. Seems odd that you rode the quad all last race season without a hint of trouble from the motor and as soon as you get the head back from Trinity the thing lets go. Not only that but 3 out of the 4 valves dropping? Keepers just don't come loose on their own, especially not 3 out of 4. As far as over-revving it, you couldn't have revved it any higher than the limiter would allow (which you did all last season without a problem). And then to have you pay the $60 shipping to send it back to Harry just so he can tell you it's your fault. If the keepers are properly seated on the valve stem and there's adequate spring pressure (all of which Trinity should've checked before leaving their business) than there's little chance of having the keepers just mysteriously bounce off of 3 of the 4 valves. There's a rev limiter on the quad so there's no chance of exceeding safe revs and after your tear down there's no broken con rod or crank or anything that would allow the piston to come up and smack 3 valves. Sounds like some flunky at Trinity did a rush job just to get your head out the door since it was 4 weeks behind and didn't get the keepers in the groove on the valve properly. Sorry you're out nearly 2 grand now for nothing.

 

Thanks, Guy.....I appreciate you taking time to reply; you know how much pride and care I took in this rebuild. I have heard quite a few stories about Trinity of late; it's too bad I didn't hear the stories of trouble before I had to experience it too........JIM

 

Alaska- sorry about your problems. I used to be a big trinity fan. I am not any longer due to some **** poor work and .... Anyway save your self the grief and do not sent it back. He is not going to pay to fix your motor. Sory. I would take and have the head cc'd and compare those to stock and see the numbers. They claim to flow every head on a flow bench. Did they prvide you a copy of that?? At FSW's numerous trinity quads went to hell. I am accused of bashing now. Really i just hate to see anyone get less than they payed for. Maybe you can find a dealer that will give you good pricing on replacement parts. Are the cannon motorcycles the same motor?? I have been seeing them go under a 1000 at action not running.

 

14min....thanks for your reply, too bad I had to find out the hard way as well. It really sucks, because I would have been a great cheerleader for Trinity had they performed the service that I paid for and done it in a professional manner. Now all I am left with is a hole in my wallet and scrambling for parts before the MX season starts....JIM

 

Jim- I understand your frustation. I get slammed all the time for saying the thruth. PM me a list of parts and i will see if i can find a dealer that will cut me some major slack on prices. I will not be home until monday the 20th. I may be able to help, i will try.

 

Sorry about your troubles with your quad. I am also a Trinity Victim!

I would not send them my weedeater!

Go to www.14mins.com and contact them on your parts you need, they should be able to get what you are looking for.

 

Alaska I'm bummin' for ya. Your quad was looking sweet man. I thought about using Trinity once as well but I've heard a lot of horror stories and a few good stories. I was going to ship my motor to Sparks but I'm thinking Hetrick now because they turn it around quicker and I've heard a lot of good things about them. Good luck man I hope you can pull something out for this season. 14mins your the man for stepping up to help a fellow atver.

 

Dropping 3 valves at once?! I have never heard of that. I dropped a valve on my 250x due to junk a$$ RD springs. If you dropped three, it almost seems that they must have used the wrong keepers. Can you tell if the groove in the valves are worn at the top? Are the keepers worn? Do the keepers fit tight in the groove?

I am just curious how this happened. I too have heard bad stories about trinity. There is a guy on this board with a 3 year old 420 trinity banshee though without even a rebuild.

 

To answer your question, yes; the keeper grooves do seem smooth instead of a straight edge I would expect to find. The thing is that they should look that stuff over as they do their head work and especially with checking valve clearance. I was thinking the same thing that it seemed that they must have mixed up the parts and not reassembled each part where it came from.....JIM